Speaking at a  press conference yesterday at the Sant Joan Despi, Spain international and Barcelona captain Carles Puyol did not mince words about his boss,  Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola:

    ” The players are very proud of him. I absolutely disagree with his words. He has not failed anyone. “

The Barcelona defender was reacting to statements made by Guardiola, following the elimination of the Catalan club from the Copa del Rey on Wednesday. Guardiola, who blamed himself for the result, had stated that he had failed the team and that for the quality of players at his disposal, he should have gone further in the competition.

Contradicting his coach for once, Puyol reportedly told journalists that Guardiola is not to blame for their  Cup exit, claiming that it is the ones running on the field that fail or succeed :

    “I alway say that it is players, who win or lose matches. He (Guardiola) came very well prepared for the match and there was little that we did not to qualify.  So the team was hurt. We had Sevilla in our hands but could not finish them off.”

Puyol, however, believes that the experience would only make the team stronger and more determined:

    “We knew this day would come some time and although we do not like it, the elimination should make us stronger. Now we have to fight harder than ever in the Champions League, in the two competitions we have left. Nobody likes to crash out in any competition and it does not comfort me, that it had to come from a good team like Sevilla.”

    “However, nobody can deny that the team gave everything.  As proof of Guardiola’s philosophy of not surrendering to pressure, the team gave everything to the very end, as it was at Stamford Bridge, as at Abu Dhabi. But you can not always win. Nobody can blame the team for anything. We made a good stand and fought until the end proving that we wanted to continue.”

The Barcelona stalwart likewise perceives and welcomes a positive aspect to this development, noting that the team will now have time to rest after playing at a frantic pace for a year and a half:

    “We can use a little break after two very intense seasons of many matches and only a few days off. In this way, we can be more prepared for the League and CL games”.

Asked whether Barcelona would be looking for revenge against Sevilla in Saturday’s league fixture, Puyol merely stated that the team will focus on the three points up for grabs:

    “There is no spirit of revenge. It’s another game, totally different, since the Cup was a knockout deal in 180 minutes. On Saturday there will be three important points for both teams, we made a great effort on Wednesday.”

Spanish newspaper, El Periodico, meantime reports that the Catalan team held a light training session on Thursday after their return from Seville, with all the players reportedly in a somber mood. The last time Barcelona was eliminated from a competion was in April 2008 against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

A new study from the Portuguese Institute of Marketing Management, IPAM, revealed that the Camp Nou is the stadium with the highest average number of visitors during the year of 2009, reports Catalan sports paper, Sport. The Camp Nou faithful have lived up to the call of the team, for their support during the fixtures, averaging a total of 82.648 visitors.

This put Barcelona at the top of Europe, followed by German outfit Borussia Dortmund, Signal Iduna Park, with 76.412 visitors. Old Trafford, Manchester United, grabs the third place with 75.088 visitors. The Santiago Bernabeu, the home of Real Madrid and the this seasons UCL final, is the second spanish club on the list, coming in at number 4 with 74.250 visitors, while Mestalla, Valencia, comes in as number 19 with 45.493 visitors.

2009 was a historical year for Barcelona on the pitch, and the good results reflects in the number of visitors, as Barcelona are the only club that had over 80.000 visitors per game. Although Barcelona and Real Madrid are among the top four, there’s a stark contrast to the other clubs in La Liga, which are some way off their numbers.

Four German clubs can be found among the top ten followed by two Spanish, two English, one Scottish and one Italian. The German dominance, is also reflected in Futebol Finance’s statistics for the number of visitors per game in December 2009. Each game in the Bundesliga had an average of 42.833 spectators, while La Liga in third spot, after Premier League, had 28.568 spectators in Decemeber.

1. Camp Nou (FC Barcelona) 82.648 Camp Nou (FC Barcelona) 82.648
2. Signal Iduna Park (Borussia Dortmund) 76.412 Signal Iduna Park (Borussia Dortmund) 76412
3. Old Trafford (Manchester United) 75.088 Old Trafford (Manchester United) 75.088
4. Santiago Bernabéu (Real Madrid) 74.250 Santiago Bernabeu (Real Madrid) 74.250
5. Allianz Arena (Bayern Munich) 69.000 Allianz Arena (Bayern München) 69000
6. Arena auf Schalke (Schalke 04) 61.179 Arena auf Schalke (Schalke 04) 61.179
7. Emirates Stadium (Arsenal) 59.666 Emirates Stadium (Arsenal) 59666
8. Celtic Park (Celtic Glasgow) 58.256 Celtic Park (Celtic) 58256
9. HSH Nordbank Arena (Hamburgo SV) 55.853 HSH Nordbank Arena (Hamburg SV) 55.853
10. Giusseppe Meazza (Inter) 52.938 Giuseppe Meazza (Inter) 52.938

According to an article in Sport, that was published on December 20, 2009, Human has replaced Viva la Vida as the informal hymn for the Azulgrana team.

    The famous cords of Viva la Vida by Cold Play resonated time and again in the “azulgrana” locker room before each game. The ritual brought the team luck, but after a long and successful season, the time to change the hymn has arrived. Yesterday [December 19, 2009] the new melody that will accompany the squad from now on became official. The chosen theme is “Human,” a number-one song by North Americans The Killers, a new icon of Indie Rock.

According to the article, the new locker room hymn was “one of the best kept secrets,” but only because they had yet to choose the exact song. After the success of Viva la Vida the task of finding a suitable replacement was not easy but necessary, because they had heard the song so often; thus is was time for a change. They had various other songs in mind, but in the end, they chose the one by The Killers.

The song Human, however, was not new to them because they had been playing it for some time during the season. In fact, it was said that during the Club World Cup, the players could be seen “singing and dancing to their new hymn inside the bus” that took them from their hotel to the stadium.

The team’s wish is that Human brings them the same kind of luck that Viva la Vida brought them; however, as they progress through this new season and new year, and since the quest for success has started anew, perhaps it will also serve as a reminder to all that they are, indeed, “human.”
Sevilla visits the Camp Nou, to face Barcelona for the third time in eleven days at the weekend. The Blaugrana manager has stated that his team will not be looking to avenge their defeat for being knocked out of the Copa del Rey by the Andalusians.

“We will have to play the game with calm head and without any feeling of getting revenge.  The teams know each other pretty well, and the game will be different. The  players know what to expect, and the fact that we are playing them for the third time in eleven days can make some things easier , while other things not so.”

Speaking on the Copa del Rey loss in midweek Guardiola once again took full responsibility.  “There were things over 180 minutes that we did not do well, which is my responsibility.  I did not say that the fault was mine, but I have failed because I could not find solutions. “

Despite the narrow loss the coach was delighted with the performance of his players. “Losing is part of the game and I am extremely happy with the performance of the team. We have to be proud of ourselves, because we have given everything. “

Guardiola also dismissed talk of his contract renewal as well as player transfers, preferring to concentrate on the weekend’s fixture. “The future is the game on Saturday. We will talk about my renewal when the time is right. The players are very happy here and the club is happy with them as well and 99% of the players will be here next season. There will be alot of talk about player transfers and the elections. I would like to state in advance, that everything transfer related is false. “

According to an article in Sport, that was published on December 20, 2009, Human has replaced Viva la Vida as the informal hymn for the Azulgrana team.

    The famous cords of Viva la Vida by Cold Play resonated time and again in the “azulgrana” locker room before each game. The ritual brought the team luck, but after a long and successful season, the time to change the hymn has arrived. Yesterday [December 19, 2009] the new melody that will accompany the squad from now on became official. The chosen theme is “Human,” a number-one song by North Americans The Killers, a new icon of Indie Rock.

According to the article, the new locker room hymn was “one of the best kept secrets,” but only because they had yet to choose the exact song. After the success of Viva la Vida the task of finding a suitable replacement was not easy but necessary, because they had heard the song so often; thus is was time for a change. They had various other songs in mind, but in the end, they chose the one by The Killers.

The song Human, however, was not new to them because they had been playing it for some time during the season. In fact, it was said that during the Club World Cup, the players could be seen “singing and dancing to their new hymn inside the bus” that took them from their hotel to the stadium.

The team’s wish is that Human brings them the same kind of luck that Viva la Vida brought them; however, as they progress through this new season and new year, and since the quest for success has started anew, perhaps it will also serve as a reminder to all that they are, indeed, “human.”